


The Warming Stone (Warmth)

by blindtaleteller



Series: Platovember Prompts 2020 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Emotional Baggage, Family Fluff, Frosthawk - Freeform, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, LoHawk, Lokiverse - Freeform, Mixology (Lokiverse), Platovember 2020, Survival, conjoined AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27434368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindtaleteller/pseuds/blindtaleteller
Summary: On the run with his family from his own people and then some, Clint isn't particularly happy with either the situation or, the fact that Loki has turned out to be their savior. Never mind that the fastest and cleanest way to lose their tails has taken them to a frozen alien planet Barton had considered almost as cold as the one who brought them there.Five days in though; Barton realizes he has to take a more realistic and open look at what's happening the same..
Relationships: platonic - Relationship
Series: Platovember Prompts 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999015
Kudos: 7
Collections: Loki, Platonic Relationships, Prompted Writing





	The Warming Stone (Warmth)

**Author's Note:**

> Not a portion of the AU I've mentioned in more than passing before, and the story line for it is barely even outlined: but the muses wanted to do this one for Day 6 so here it is.
> 
> Lokiverse Facts: This one is picked out of what few sections I had kind of done out initially as a sort of character exercise leading into DREAMS chapter 9 and 10.  
> Initially, this -particular- Loki was going to have a larger part in the Moot that takes place in those chapters but; I ended up pulling that section in part because it was already pretty big and confusing.
> 
> Cuyler (this Barton -- the Moniker means 'Archer' in Norse:) is noted there though, as one of the three Bartons playing Rock-Paper-Scissors on the latter half of the Vestibule as part of an ongoing game they play to see whether any of them can actually win since they ARE all technically the same guy from different Shards.  
> At that stage later in the story, they mostly do this just to mess with Hvedrungr's Stephen Strange; MacBeth: who tends to get antsy almost every time more than two versions of the same person besides Loki himself are in the room at any given time as is.

  * IDENTIFY LOCATION: CUYLER - INTER-DIMENSIONAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED : HVRA0616-9H-14
  * \---INTER-UNIVERSAL DOORWAY ENTRY POINT H14 : OBSERVATIONAL STATUS - TVA INTERFERENCE: _OBSERVATION ACTIVITY DETECTED_
  * \----JOTUNHEIM : MERIDIAN W-02 - VISITATION CAUTIONS _RECOMMENDED_ : THE RED PEAKS
  * \------KNOWN DOMESTIC TIME VARIANCE : 12:34 AM



\--=The Warming Stone=--

Watching him clean the next layer of skin from it's angled hang over the fire, Clint couldn't help but think for the twentieth time over the past few days; that Loki was absolutely out of his mind.

Laura was already asleep with the kids, completely out of it; tucked under his shirt and coat and wrapped up further under that in the first half of the huge pelt he'd brought in this morning and, apparently already used to both his scuttling around the weird red crystal caves and the hum that naturally came with them enough to sleep like a rock for the second night in a row. The warmth probably helped though, and he had to admit, after the first two frigid nights on Jotunheim; now that things were normalizing a little and they hadn't been either followed or eaten by anything --which apparently and as his own stubborn ass had proven being dumb enough to run into a wild he knew nothing about, was actually a thing-- the adrenaline they had all been running on was starting to drop. Or had at least, for his kids and wife. Enough to sleep, anyway.

Clint wasn't quite there yet. And he _knew_ Loki wasn't. Not that the fact he had stripped to the waist like a complete nutcase probably helped. He didn't seem too cold, but he still wasn't immune; there were patches of gooseflesh raised up in tender areas even Clint could see from there. Watching him scrape the hide of rougher spots again, and thinking back on all the fucked up of how they'd gotten here in the first place: Barton wondered if the guy had a mode that wasn't all motion all the time. At most, he'd seen him sit down and sleep for maybe four hours through the whole of it.

Which, Barton hadn't much cared about at the start; he admitted. But at the moment Loki was also the only one of them who knew anything about this place, or the planet. Where they were, what they had between them and the next doorway; what kind of dangers were out there besides the nasty fur-worm that had taken a good bite at Clint's leg out of just about nowhere in his own stupid attempt at hunting when he didn't even know the wildlife well enough to know those were apparently a regular thing along the equator that, they were apparently actually on.

Oh yeah and, at almost ten whole degrees above zero at the worst part of the night; it was apparently summer time, when predator worms and the things like the plane-sized owl-thing that had swooped in pretty much the same time Loki had caught up with him that ate even those were at their most active! That was terrifying news! Yeah. Clint wasn't too sure that first or second day even that he hadn't brought them out of the fire and straight into the death-freezer. Honestly, if he hadn't been the main reason they were alive, he would still be questioning that a lot more strongly than he was.

This was what they had right now though. Cold as it was to the core. Company maybe included. " You're staring again. " from the shirtless prince without so much as turning his head shouldn't surprise him either at this stage.

" Just wondering for like, the millionth time how you can do that. I'm colder just looking at you. And it's cold as hell already. "

" You wouldn't be, if you would stop shucking your cloak onto the children every other chance. They're warm enough." had him squinting at the Asgardian's shoulder blades while he was running that sharp knife and the salve he'd slathered it with along the rough skin side of the fur. " That why when you shuck yours, it's always to cover my little girl's head and shoulders? " did get him a little pause before Loki finished the next swiping motion in line.

Unsurprisingly, he avoided the question entirely. " One of us will have to carry her later at one point. The banks are deeper than I expected in the wood. Especially along the river. Cooper may be big enough, but she'll be tunneling in the snow like a ferret otherwise. " Which just made Clint blow out a breath, not even bothering to keep it quiet any more; before looking over and adding another piece of the dried deadwood to the fire. " At the worst, I'll carry him, she can carry Lila; if I can't keep the way to the face clear enough. The winds are kicking over what paths I've managed too, so that leg will have to be at least serviceable before we try crossing the valley. "

" We'll manage. " or they would now, anyway. Initially when he'd started skipping out into the snow, Clint's trust level had been at just barely above zero. Curiosity a lot lower than that. Five almost six days later, dependent on him when he definitely was anything but by comparison; and both dials had been cranked up. The trust meter, definitely still on low by comparison; but ...Clint kept putting his fingers on that dial, or caught himself wanting to. Even where he didn't want to.

When you're stuck in a splint and having the nasty pushed out of your wounds and then watching another man nurse and feed your kids, your wife and you before he feeds an takes care of himself though.. repeatedly; on natural autopilot? Let how he'd snatched Cooper out of the line of fire on the way to the plane that got them across state and into Illinois to get here sink in? The fact that, his family had been the first thing he'd decided to secure instead of himself when he definitely could have? Okay, enough of that. The point was Barton had a lot of time to think once they'd gotten out of the line of fire, and couldn't argue the need to sit still any more. A lot of time to ask whether who he was looking at was really the bad guy; because while taking him might have made _some_ sense, maybe: getting his kids and wife out of the house when Fury had gone stone-crazy and come after them knowing about his best leverage did not. Especially once they left the planet.

If he had to look at it from a survivor's point of view alone, the kids would have been dead weight. Horrible thing to think even for a moment as a father; but that was the point. If he was really as bad as Clint had been telling himself he was up to this point? They shouldn't be here, to have to be carried. Clint, shouldn't be with him either eating up what medical supplies they had. Hell, he shouldn't be alive: Loki shouldn't have stepped in after the first bite. Or helped him avoid the swooping owl claws or being taken for the extra ride when the fur-worm had been spotted by the much bigger predator and literally ripped right off him as a mid-air snack. Loki didn't say it; but Clint had picked up by now that he could have left a lot sooner if not for them. Maybe day one.

" So how _do_ you do that? " had him looking at him briefly again, arms working the cleaning scrape into the small can for the rough bits collected on his blade and calling attention to the lines and lines of knife tattoos along his forearms, sides and back again in the process as they moved. " Seriously. All those layers and you just strip 'em off in sub zero temps? " Got a sigh from the onyx haired man while he got back to it. Clint didn't think he'd answer, really.

" I don't know. " wasn't any part of what he expected at all the same.

"It's not some kind of magic or something, like your tatts? " had him shrugging after another few feathering slides of the curved blade along the upper half before he sat on the edge of what weird muddied crystal pedestal thing that served as their fire pit. " My tattoos are something I have to make an effort however slight to call on, so no. It's likely my absence from Asgard and natural tendencies. "

" You tryin'a say you're cold blooded? " sort of made him laugh, a little; for a moment; though the way his spine twitched towards the impression of agitation said Clint, might have actually hit a chord somewhere, weird as that was. "Hot blooded, I suppose; but yes. "

" So Thor could do that too? " making him spout a sudden laugh, had Clint's brows dipping for the tone of it; and the fact he caught the expression to his mouth, the lack of it at his eyes when he scraped the knife clean again.

" No. " brought up a few more questions, and " We aren't the same species if you must know. " knocked all of them out at the foundations and sent half of the rest skittering across the floor. Barton ended up watching him and listening for more while the ones left started to collect themselves. Those questions were turning around his head in circles before he realized that continuation wasn't coming. A good minute plus of nothing but scrape-scrape, tap while he was working at the lower half of the the pelt before Clint decided to tell his paranoia to fuck off and try and give it a little push. " That ah, would've been the space where you elaborate a little..? "

" I'm not his brother. "

" Yeah, you were adopted.. " wasn't anything he didn't know. " ...he said that much. So? "

" Technically, I was apparently fostered. " had Clint shifting to turn his legs to sit in a different position and pushing again." Apparently?"

" It wasn't something I was aware of myself until a year ago, and even then and now; I don't know many details past what's needed. " Again the scrape and tap, though it looked like he was done; taking up the cloth again to wipe the blade clean and 'slip' it back into place along his forearm to flicker and disappear back into the ink representing the long list of them that curled around his forearms and up the backs of his arms, under them and down his ribs to disappear below his belt line. " Odin took me in to solidify his peace, and nothing more. " Put a little clearer definition to what he meant by fostering, though. And the clip he was trying to keep out of it said a few things more.

There were, a lot of questions that came with that too, and Clint ended up biting back the first and worst before it crossed his lips; pretty sure the question would just piss Loki off. Which; wasn't his goal or interest. Or in anyone's interests, in this situation. " So, where did you come from then? Do you know? "

" We're currently squatted in a cave, on it. " Did surprise the hell out of him; but..

" That ...definitely explains how you might be better adjusted to the climate, then. " got a snort of agreement blended heavily with derision Clint wasn't sure how to gauge while Loki took a few moments and a half a cup of water to wash his hands before checking on the camp pot hanging over the fire at a backwards lean. He was an odd one. Pretty, but very odd. Not what Clint expected, with what little he'd heard out of Thor before things had broken down. " You hungry?" was along the lines of most of his conversation starters.

Or rather, the existential questions like it were. " A little. " had him separating two bowls to scoop out some of the soup they'd been slow cooking since last night while Barton still thought about it. Food, warmth, sleep, water. He'd tugged a few things related out of nowhere for them, but that had been _'limited at this great distance'_ he'd said; so it hadn't been much. And the few things he had tugged out of thin air; well, afterwards had been followed almost immediately by the few times Clint had seen him sleep. So he believed it. " We haven't talked about what the plan is, once we get out of here; past the valley. " was Clint's attempt at steering towards more than a few things outside just that.

" Mm. I haven't made this trip on foot in a long time, and never with humans in tow; but it can be done, I think: especially during the summer. We just need to follow the plan and keep to the rocks and trees. "

" So owls _and their_ snow-tunneling _lunch_ don't _eat_ us." came out automatically without the ability to turn down his sass for the memory of having those gigantic wings beating his face on it's way back up into the sky with feathers that were definitely longer than he was tall and claws gripping and ripping at that creepy ass worm before it was just gone again. Yeah that funky ass fantasy level trauma wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

" Pretty much. " in immediate response had Barton shaking his head with a matching half smile towards his knees as he thought of testing the short few steps between himself and the edge of the fire where Loki was spooning in the next bowl. He paused when Clint stood, and even when his eyes were back on the task he knew he was watching him.His pride really couldn't do with the fall though, so reaching for the lip wasn't beyond him to keep it from happening just in case before he planted his ass on the edge. Loki didn't have to ask how it was, either. He'd been downright forceful about checking on it regularly; and in front of the kids, which admittedly had ticked Clint off at first, until why had clicked in. He'd wanted them to see him recovering. Take the edge off it helping now and then. And it worked.

" So, _plan?_ " was asked when the first bowl got handed to him. Wasn't the tastiest stuff, but he'd managed to find some edible roots and something that was a lot like water chestnuts to add to it along with what seasoning packets they had.Greasy as all get out, but satisfying in this weather. Clint found he actually liked the weird purple and grey root; tasted a lot like red potatoes. So he was picking at eating those first while Loki considered answering through his first bite. 

Loki seemed to go after the meat and the softened bits of what passed for rosemary in the sauce first, usually. It was kind of funny watching him suck on the spoon upside down over his tongue. Clint wondered briefly if he was even aware he did that, especially when he was thinking during a meal. " Vanaheim, then Asgard, then we'll peek at back at Earth: if all does go to plan. Hopefully someone will have knocked some of what little is remarkable enough to be called Fury's sense back into his head by now. Vanaheim is messy enough at the moment they won't likely notice us passing through; and it's easier terrain, climate wise. A lot like the temperate portions of Midgard really. The doorway I plan on taking us through there will spit us out far enough from the city, and close enough to my Sheath that so long as we go unnoticed: will manage us transportation from there. I'm half tempted to steal a horse or five on our way through the same. "

" They have horses on Asgard? " was one of those automatic questions that made him snort a little, though that was the closest he'd come to hearing him laugh." There too yes. I owned several of my own. "came after another bite. He was a quicker eater though. After a few more he explained " I was talking about Vanaheim though. The woodfolk there have more than a few decent herds. They won't miss three to five if we pick from a common herder. "

" So why not share that til now? "

" Because getting to Vanaheim _is_ the difficulty. " was frank enough for him, and a little more honest in tone than he probably thought Clint would like. " I don't use the door we have to, or travel through here on foot any more with good reason. "

" Besides, the _giant owls_ you mean. " got Clint both brows raised as he chewed his way through the next bigger bite along with the nod. Which wasn't exactly encouraging. " As made apparent by the fact I was born here.. the wildlife is actually the least of our concerns. That door comes close to a settlement. That's what those lights you were looking at over the cliff were, when we first arrived. " wasn't either; and " If they realize we're here, and the paths I've been carving aren't made by one of them: it isn't likely to bode well for us, to put it nicely. Which is another reason I have been trying very hard to rely on my magic as little as possible. "

" 'Cause they'd notice? "

" That, probably.. but also because I'll need as much as I can pull together to hide all five of us as long as possible when in range. Sensing us won't do a lick of good if they can't see where to swing or fire. Shrouding myself is one thing. One other person, eh. But five, including two very excitable children? That's going to be a challenge, especially if we don't have them at hand or the door's moved. " And that last part? That wasn't something he had let onto as a possibility at all til then."How far could it move? " actually made him stop near the bottom of his bowl, and the length of the lack of motion? Was not promising before Loki answered. " After this length of time ...anywhere from three feet to half a mile in any open direction beneath the face. Maybe more. "

" Okay, and they haven't found it why? "

" They're too tall. "had him working the idea around his head, but " They'd have to crawl to get to it. " pulled them up high because if Loki and his family wouldn't have to by comparison then ..how big were these guys? He seemed to sense the question, and have a little beef with it too with he sigh that proceeded him saying. " Go on, ask it. It's bloody inevitable I suppose. " The tone kind of amused Barton; there wasn't much that had seemed to annoy him, other than Barton trudging out on his own; but this did. " How big are they? And how come you won't have to? "

" You know I think that's the kindest way of wording 'why are you short' I've heard to date? " was just as annoyingly pinched as the request for him to put it to words, and actually made Clint chuckle a little. " Proxima certainly didn't mince words. Nor Maw, and he's not that much taller than I. "

" Who? "

" Never mind. " and he was wiping out his bowl after a quick rinse, settling down on the floor in his usual spot on top of a small lining of smaller fur scraps half pinned against the side their crystal fire pit. " The answer is; the men are often about ten? Maybe Twelve feet tall. I haven't seen many women. I think the tallest I've noticed have been ...maybe nine or ten feet as well. They don't call them frost giants on your world for nothing. But; the lot are fierce, territorial: and very homicidal, especially where outsiders are concerned. So, avoiding them is good. And, I'm small because I am apparently a deficient cast away. Not _terribly_ surprising, all things considered; but there you have it. They're a lot of trouble, is what they are. Especially for trio carting two children through their territory. "

Clint didn't know where to start or what to say to that. But then, he was also getting an idea of how he worked when he did say things that mattered; and that the confusion and need to pick one was how he avoided certain subjects. Like the word deficient and how it had been used; and in what sentence: being wrapped up in the clear sense of danger like a buffer. Making that the more obvious choice among the things said to go after; for most. Along with, he realized: the clear message to stay away from calling it out. Verbal armor, and Clint saw it. If Clint asked about the comment he'd turn it aside, wouldn't he. Barton was tempted to test it, though: the last few days, put him off the prod. Because people didn't hide things they didn't think needed it. And because ultimately, he decided he owed Loki, at this point.

Down to it: Loki had overpaid his dues. At least where Barton was concerned.

And for a moment, Clint glimpsed the fact that was a part of his armor too: sitting there shirtless and clearly starting to feel the cold himself, now that he wasn't moving.

Leaving the bowl at the edge he was sitting on, Clint left a few other things intangible behind with it too and put himself shoulder to shoulder with him. Ignored the look, when he thought to reach for the one skin he'd finished already. Wasn't one hundred percent dry, but it was close enough he'd already taken it down. " I need to start working this leg more then. " all Clint said, a continuation of the rest instead of picking at the scab he'd flashed at him while he pulled the soft and fuzzy side around both their shoulders: and found out first hand he wasn't lying, and why Lila always reached for Loki immediately when he came back with firewood.

" Damn, you weren't kidding. " at a near chuckle got Clint another look, before he said. " I need to be mobile yeah? The sitting it still stage's passed, thanks to you. I keep not moving it at this point, I'm gonna be a useless wreck out there. "

Loki wasn't just warm, he was almost like a mini radiator. Had Clint rubbing his cold nose up against his bare shoulder before he even knew what he was doing: and a little more amusement out of Loki's tone for it when they both realized what he was doing. " I suppose that's true. " and after a few seconds, he was too surprised and too grateful to make a big deal about Loki pulling both sets of Barton's fingers up around and under his arm and pinning them between the soft skin of his ribs and his bicep to warm them up. " Get some rest. We'll walk some of the trail together in the morning. I want to dig up a few more fjola while we're at it. Cook them over the fire for the trip. "

That was a lot more inclusion than Barton expected; and glancing at his face and the edges of discomfort he saw there, he was betting it was more than Loki might have been too. Enough he was making excuses for it in the next few words, and Clint could see it for what it was; now that he was looking. " It'll do to familiarize you better with the sights and sounds too. Just in case. "

" It'll be good to get outside. " was answered with a small hum of understanding and agreement. " 'Specially now that I know for sure the company's not as cold as as the landscape. " almost yanked his head up from the slight bend while closing up some of the fur to keep out what cold there was. Clint knew he was staring at him. " Don't gimme that look. I've been too strung up on adrenaline, irritation and everybody else's opinions to make my own. _I'm_ not so cold I can't say it either when it needs saying. " and after a few seconds " That said: sorry. "

Still not looking at him at first; Clint mustered up a crooked smile and did glance at him: not surprised at all when he saw the same brand of distrust still etched in behind Loki's eyes that he himself had been wearing for days. It made Barton laugh, if more inside than out. " Get some sleep yourself, huh? Cuddling the cold out is weird enough, without adding all the detailed mushy crap to it. And I'm gonna feel obligated to keep going if you keep staring at me like that. "

No more words, though he was slow to look back to the space in front of them. Barton didn't expect him to actually take it up at all. The man barely slept. So when his dark head hit his shoulder heavy a few minutes later, it pulled a breath short. When he almost slipped off it? Clint ended up chewing his lip, getting why it came on that quick on a viscerally emotional level; and instantly feeling like twice the asshole he was while he shifted to steady him there.

Clint caught the motion further back across the pit when he did, and looked back to see Laura peering at them from under the blankets, Cooper's head tucked under hers; smiling at him, for the first time in days. Small but, warm; and a lot more than they'd been able to manage since their home had literally gone up in flames behind them. There was a question in her eyes he knew; and he gave her one of those smiles back before he turned back towards the idea of settling, because yeah. There wasn't a maybe to it. Current company wasn't as cold as he'd been so determined to keep telling himself it was.

Tough, thick skinned and probably rightfully so from the gist of things; really hard to lay a hand on, directly. Not because he was cold though.They wouldn't be there. Looking at the wrap of bandages around his calf in the glowing dark, listening to the fire built from wood he'd brought in, the quiet bubble of simmering stew, and the sound of his daughter's soft snores under the furs and what was left of Loki's coat he hadn't pulled or cut apart to the hip to make sure they were bundled up well enough to pass? The scepter and that stupid blue glow-block Clint had been guarding back on Earth tied together and almost forgotten on the other side of the room out of the kids' reach?

A hand warmer. Weird thought as Barton started to get sleepy, but there it was; and he remembered the first thing Loki had done once the fire had been going was heat and pull a few stones from almost in the fire to wrap up in the strips of his coat tails in particular and pass them out to the lot of them; too warm to handle without the buffer. Those tough, river-smoothed warming stones had saved their fingers and toes after the trek up the narrow cliff; and were still cycled in and out of the ruined lower half of his coat from the fire, warming what was passing for their bedding at night.

Drifting off tucking his own head over the dark head on his shoulder; Clint was hooking into the comparison without trying and without struggle from there. It was hard not to, now that his own stubborn ass was finally calming down. It wasn't just an idea, he thought, as his eyes closed. Somehow, his family had impossibly grown by one _very_ odd, _not_ so alien character. And even if that weren't the case?

They were actually in the _warmest_ company possible in this situation. Maybe, period.

Barton didn't doubt they'd get to the doorway, just for that.

_I wonder what Vanaheim looks like ..prolly, not as pretty as this one._


End file.
